Hybrid system and process for converting whole tires and other solid carbon materials into reclaimable and reusable components

ABSTRACT

A system and method of converting tires or other solid carbon based material is described, wherein the system and method includes providing a chamber, feeding tires or other solid carbon based material or both into the chamber, rotating the chamber and heating and reducing the material in the chamber, collecting solid residue from the chamber, collecting vapor from the chamber, and converting vapor collected from the chamber to a liquid. The chamber has an interior surface and can include one or more ribs on the interior surface for rotating and tumbling the material in the chamber while heating the material. In another embodiment, wherein the material includes tires, the system and method includes rotating and heating the tires in the chamber causing the tires to collapse and liquefy, exposing the metal in the tires which aids in grinding the carbon material in the tires as they tumble, collecting solid residue, for example, tire carbons, such as carbon black, and collecting vapor, for example, vaporized oil, and benzene and methane gas from the chamber and converting the oil to, for example, No. 2 to No. 6 fuel oil. In yet another embodiment, the method includes heating the chamber to a temperature from about 500° F. to about 1000° F. using one or more low temperature gases reclaimed from the material.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to a unique hybrid system and process forconverting whole tires and other solid carbon based materials intoreclaimable and reusable components, such as one or more of syngas, oil,carbon black and steel without combustion of the carbon based materials.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Various methods are used to dispose of tires. For example, they can besimply ground up or mulched, or used for fuel referred to as tirederived fuel (TDF). Tires have been used as fuel in the cement industryin cement kilns, in boilers in pulp and paper mills, in power plants ofelectric utilities and in industrial boilers. When used for fuel thetires are typically first ground up or shredded and then placed in anincinerator at high temperatures, for example, above 1500° F., andincinerated as, for example, in US application publication no. US2004/0025763.

There are a number of problems, however, with incinerating tires orusing tires as fuel. One is the metal in the tires. The metal in thetires tends to clog feed systems in the pulp and paper industry. As aresult, the pulp and paper industry needs to remove the metal, orde-wire the tires, before using them as fuel. Similarly, the tires mustbe de-wired and typically ground up before use by electric utilities.Also, when grinding the tires, tiny fines of metal from the steel beadring in the tires and the steel belts in radial tires are left in theground up material.

Other problems with incinerating tires for fuel involve environmentalissues with air emissions that can include dioxins, furans, carbonmonoxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrous oxides (NOx), carbondioxide, and/or particulates. There can also be problems with disposalof resulting ash that can include metals and heavy metals from thetires, such as zinc, chromium, cadmium and lead. Moreover, these methodsof disposal also do not reclaim for reuse any of the various componentsof the tires.

There is a need, therefore, for an improved system for not only disposalof used tires, but also for recovery of the tire components for reuse.Additionally, there is a need for more energy efficient disposal oftires and recovery of tire components for reuse.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The carbon hybrid system and method of the present disclosure overcomesthe aforementioned disadvantages and results in creating up to 8 timesor more useable energy than it consumes to convert the tire or othersolid carbon based materials into useable products or fuels. The presentcarbon hybrid system and method are unique in the design of themachinery and in the process. In an exemplary embodiment the presentsystem includes a chamber designed to receive and process tires, inparticular whole tires, or other solid carbon based material in theexisting form. The tires from lawn and garden size of 15 inches indiameter to large mining tires about nine feet in diameter can beprocessed as manufactured in the chamber saving all the energy needed toshred or cut the tires into smaller parts.

In an embodiment the carbon hybrid system and process includes a chamberand is designed to move the tires or other solid carbon based materials(“product”) from a loading door at one end of the chamber, through whichproduct is loaded into the chamber, by an internal rib system to movethe product to the opposite end of the chamber. As the product is heatedthe chamber is rotated so that the heat is indirectly applied to theproduct allowing the product to liquefy and vaporize. In an embodiment,the rotation and indirect heating of the product causes a tumbling androasting of the product in the chamber. In an embodiment, the heating ofthe product in the chamber is conducted, at least in part, under vacuum.

Where the product is a tire, the tire collapses in the chamber. Thesteel wire that is in the tire is exposed. The steel wire starts to beakdown the tire and grind the carbon back into a powder. As the tire isheated in the chamber the tire rubber begins to liquefy and lowtemperature gases, such as methane, benzene and other low flash pointgase's, are emitted from the tire. These gases are captured in theprocess, for example by a vacuum system, and re-pressurized. The gasescan be re-pressurized while hot without subjecting the gases to acooling step or process. Some or all of the re-pressurized gases, nowfor example natural gas or propane, can be used to heat the chamber. Inan embodiment the recovered gases used to heat the chamber are still hotand have not been subjected to a cooling step or process.

In an embodiment by capturing the gases, called syngas, from the chamberup to 85 percent of the energy required to convert the tires to theseparate components of oil, carbon black and steel is generated by thetire or other solid carbon material in the carbon hybrid system. Thesystem can be controlled by a computer software program designed toachieve this result in the conversion process.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure the system and process isdesigned to heat tires or other solid carbon based material to adesigned temperature, for example about 500° F. to about 1000° F. Thisresult in the following benefits for the products produced from thereaction of the present system. One, the collected gases, called syngas,can generate up to about 85 percent of the energy needed to convert thetire or other solid carbon based material. Two, the oil that results isuseable grade to make into gasoline, diesel, and other usable oil baseproducts. Three, steel of a useful size can be recovered to be re-meltedinto new products. Four, the carbon black created by the process isreusable to make new tires based on, for example, a mixture of about 20to 30 percent recovered carbon black to about 70 to 80 percent virgincarbon black. This is the first known result of converting tire carbonblack to a re-useable carbon black material useful for the manufactureof new tires.

In another embodiment, the present system and process for convertingtires or other solid carbon based material to the useable products ofone or more of syngas oil, carbon black and steel generates only traceamounts of CO₂. The CO₂ generated in converting a passenger tire can beas low as 1/20th of a pound of CO₂. No other green house gases aregenerated in the process. Furthermore, the steel bead wire of the tireand the radial carcass wire are as manufactured by the tire company. Thewire is clean and ready to be processed into new steel. This can save upto 70 percent of the energy needed in making steel from pig iron andother products.

In an embodiment, the chamber of the present system has tapered, orconically shaped, side walls and has a rib system, such as spiral ribson the inside of the side walls that help move the tires or other solidcarbon based material to an end of the chamber to be collected. As thechamber is rotated the steel in the tires acts as a grinding material tobreak up the carbon black in the product into the useable sizes. Therotation of the tires while the tires are heated in an indirect methodallows for the tires to be fluffed and allows the heat to penetrate theproduct surface indirectly. This is the only known design or system thatuses this method allowing the vapors of syngas and oil to escape quicklywithout too much direct heat resulting in deterioration of thematerials. The structure of carbon black can be changed by direct heatthat is too high. The present system further pulls the carbon black upthe side wall to ensure that the material does not receive direct heatthat will result in deterioration of the material.

In one embodiment, the present system includes a chamber having asubstantially circular wall which may or may not be tapered and opposedend panels, one end panel providing a feed inlet and an opposed endpanel providing an outlet, the interior of the circular wall having anarrangement of inwardly projecting ribs, heating means for heating theinterior of the chamber, and means for rotating the chamber, the chamberbeing designed to process product, such as whole tires or other solidcarbon based material, converting the product into vapor, oil and solidresidue, for example, syngas, high grade oil, an carbon black and metal.

In another embodiment, a system is provided including the aforementionedchamber, a solid residue collection chamber connected to the outlet ofthe chamber, a vapor collection chamber also connected to the outlet ofthe chamber, and one or more condensers coupled to the vapor collectionchamber for receiving vapor from the vapor collection chamber and forconverting the vapor to a liquid, for example, oil. In a furtherembodiment, the system may also include one or more scrubbers coupled toan outlet from the one or more condensers, a compressor forre-pressurizing the remaining vapor and converting the remaining vaporto a liquid, such as liquid natural gas or propane, and a holding tankfor the liquid resulting from the compressor.

In one embodiment, the present method of converting solid carbon basedmaterial comprises the steps of providing a rotatable chamber in whichthe material can be heated introducing the material into the chamber,rotating the chamber and heating the material in the chamber to reducethe material, collecting low temperature gases or oil or both from thechamber; and collecting residual solids form the material. The chamberhas an interior surface and the interior surface is provided with a ribsystem including one or more ribs to rotate the material in the chamberand cause a tumbling of the material in the chamber.

In a further embodiment of the present method, the material includes asolid whole tire. The chamber can be heated, for example to atemperature between about 500° F. and about 1000° F. The collected gasesinclude one or more of methane and benzene. The collected residualsolids include carbon solids and metal from the tire. The heating androtating of the tire in the chamber causes the tire to collapse andliquefy giving off the low temperature gases. As the tire liquefies thesteel in the tire becomes exposed and aids in breading down the tire andgrinding carbon from the tire into a powder as the tire is tumbledinside the chamber. At least a portion of the low temperature gases canbe collected and used to heat the chamber. The gases can provide up to85% of the energy needed to heat the chamber and convert the tire.

In a further embodiment, a method of converting tires or other solidcarbon based material is disclosed, wherein the method includesproviding a chamber such as the aforementioned chamber, feeding tires orother solid carbon based material or both into the chamber, heating andreducing the material in the chamber under vacuum, collecting solidresidue from the chamber, collecting vapor from the chamber, andconverting vapor collected from the chamber to a liquid. In anotherembodiment, wherein the material includes tires, the method includescollecting solid residue, for example, tire carbons, such as carbonblack, and collecting vapor, for example, vaporized oil, and benzene andmethane gas from the chamber and converting the oil to, for example, No.2 to No. 6 fuel oil. In yet another embodiment, the method includesheating the chamber to a temperature from about 500° F. to about 1000°F.

Other systems, devices, features, and advantages of the disclosed systemwill be or become apparent to one of skill in the art upon examinationof the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended thatall such additional systems, devices, features, and advantages beincluded within this description, be within the scope of the presentinvention, and be provided by the accompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the system and method of converting material, inparticular tires and other solid carbon based material, of the presentdisclosure can be better understood with reference to the attacheddrawings, FIGS. 1-3. The components of the drawings are not necessarilyto scale, emphasis instead being placed on clearly illustrating theprinciples of the present system and method. Moreover, in the drawings,like reference numerals do not need corresponding parts throughout theseveral views.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system layout for carrying out one method of thepresent disclosure, including an exemplary chamber.

FIGS. 2A-C illustrate one embodiment of a chamber of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 3A-C illustrate another exemplary embodiment of a chamber of thepresent disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Referring more specifically to the drawings in which like referencenumerals refer to like elements throughout the several views, exemplarynon-limiting embodiments of the system and method of convertingmaterial, in particular tires and other solid carbon based material, ofthe present disclosure is illustrated in FIGS. 1-3. Referring to FIG. 1,one embodiment of a system for carrying out the method of the presentdisclosure is illustrated.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a system and method ofconverting material, in particular, tires and other solid carbon basedmaterial. The system 10 includes a gasifier chamber 12, typicallyinsulated, for converting material, in particular, tires and other solidcarbon based material. In one embodiment the gasifier chamber 12 is arotary chamber having opposed end panels, one end panel having a feedinlet 14, such as a door, allowing for the introduction of the materialinto the chamber 12. The chamber 12 includes one or more heaters 15, forexample low-nox gas heaters for heating and converting the material. Anopposed end panel 17 includes a chamber outlet 20 for removing materialfrom the chamber 12 resulting from the heating and rotation of thechamber. In one embodiment the outlet 20 includes an auger system 22 forremoving solid materials from the chamber 12. The gasifier chamber 12may have a vane and collection chute 18 associated with the chamberoutlet 20 for removing solids from the chamber in cooperation with theauger 22.

In one embodiment, the gasifier chamber 12 is a cylindrical rotatingchamber having a substantially circular wall 16 in cross-section. Amotor and associated coupling means (not shown) are provided to rotatethe chamber. The wall 16 can be tapered having a larger diameter at oneend panel than at an opposed end panel. The reactor can thus be taperedin order to push product to one end of reactor for grinding and thereverse for unloading the reactor. The reactor, for example, can vary insize from 3 feet in diameter to 10 feet and can vary in length from 10feet to 15 feet. The taper of the reactor can, for example be between a1% and 10% rise. For example, the chamber 12 can have a larger diameterat the end of the chamber having feed door 14 than at its opposite endhaving chamber outlet 20 thus forming a tapered rotary screw system thatenables both the agitation and unloading systems for the chamber 12 andalso the powderization of the carbon black in the material utilizing thescrap steel wire in the material, if present.

In another embodiment, the circular wall 16 includes a plurality of ribsor vanes 19 mounted or attached to the interior surface of the circularwall 16 and projecting inwardly from the wall's interior surface. In oneembodiment, the ribs or agitating vanes 19 may project inwardly anywherefrom about ⅛ of an inch to about 3 inches in height. In one embodiment,the ribs 19 can be positioned in a helical manner, as illustrated, forexample, in FIG. 2A. Further, the ribs 19 may have a constant heightthroughout the chamber, or alternatively may have varying heights withinthe chamber. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2B, the height of theribs 19 may increase from the feed end, having feed door 14, towards theoutlet end panel 17. As illustrated in FIG. 2C, the discharge end panel17 may include a vein and collection chute 18 for removing the carbonblack from the chamber 12. In yet another embodiment, the ribs 19 maynot be parallel to each other. Instead, as illustrated for example inFIG. 3A, the ribs closest to the feed end 14 of the chamber 12 mayinitially be parallel to each other and then change in angle such thatthey are angled toward the interior of the chamber away from the feedend. Similarly, the ribs at the chamber outlet 20 end may be angled in amanner such that they also converge towards the middle of the chamber.In one embodiment the ribs 19 may be ½ inch ribs for grinding tire blackchar, cleaning steel bead wire and bundling tire belts of steel. Therotating gasifier chamber 12 with the agitating vanes 19 providesefficient vaporization of the tire material and powderizing of thecarbon black in the tire material.

The chamber 20 may optionally further include ribs 19′ mounted to theinside surface of the outlet end panel 17 of the chamber 12, asillustrated, for example, in FIGS. 3B and 3C. In one embodiment, theribs 19′ mounted to the interior surface of the outlet end panel 17 mayproject inwardly from the interior surface of the outlet panel eitherperpendicular to the interior surface of the panel, as illustrated, forexample, in FIG. 3A, or at an angle to the interior surface of theoutlet panel 17, as illustrated, for example, in FIG. 3B. In oneembodiment, the ribs 19′ may be angled in a manner such that theyconverge towards each other and towards the chamber outlet 20 andunloading auger 22 for unloading and transferring carbon black from thechamber 12 to auger 22. In yet another embodiment, the ribs 19′ may havea nautilus-type configuration, as illustrated in FIG. 3C, to aid ingrinding, for example, tire carbon, clean steel belts and bead wire.

Connected to the chamber outlet 20 is a conduit 24 which at one enddirects solid materials resulting from the heating and grinding of thematerials within the chamber 12 towards a collection chamber 28. Anunloading valve 26 may be included in the conduit 24 to assist inperiodically discharging solids, such as carbon black, from thecollection chamber 28. In another direction conduit 24 directs off gasesfrom the chamber 12 towards a vapor collection chamber 40. Before theconduit 24 reaches vapor chamber 40, an exhaust conduit 30 havingexhaust valve 32 may be included along with exhaust fan 34. This allowsthe heating and reduction of the material in the chamber to occur undervacuum.

In an embodiment gases from the chamber 12 are collected, re-pressurizedand returned to heater(s) 15 without subjecting the gases to a coolingstep or process.

In an embodiment, high temperature gases from the conversion of thematerial in chamber 12 can be temporarily collected in vapor chamber 40where they may begin to cool. Vapor chamber 40 has an outlet havingincluding outlet conduit 42 that leads to one or more condensingchambers 44, which have an outlet 46 leading to one or more collectiontanks and, for example, an overpressure safety valve 48. In oneembodiment, the one or more condensers 44 may be water cooled to furthercool the gases exiting the chamber 12.

The one or more condensers 44 have an outlet including an outlet conduit50 that leads to one or more gas vapor scrubbers 52. An outlet conduit54 is provided for the one or more scrubbers 52 that lead to acompressor 56, to condenser outlet conduit 58 and ultimately to aholding tank 64. Included in the compressor outlet conduit 58 can be agas vapor meter 62. An outlet conduit 66 can be provided for the holdingtank 64 for holding, for example gas vapors.

In an exemplary embodiment, the method of converting material of thepresent disclosure involves converting tires and recovering, forexample, syngas, carbon black, metal or steel, and oils from the tires.Whole tires may be introduced into the chamber 12 through feed door 14.The tires need not be ground up or pulverized before being placed in thechamber 12. Further, there is no need to de-wire the tires beforeplacing them in chamber 12. For example, whole tires ranging from 4inches in diameter to 120 inches in diameter can be placed into thechamber and processed by the present system and method.

The chamber is heated and rotated. This causes the tires or other solidcarbon based material, or both, to be rotated by the chamber by theinternal ribs 19, 19′ of the chamber 12. In the case of tires, the ribs19 lift the tires and allow them to fall over as they are lifted up theside wall of the chamber allowing for the heat from the surface of thechamber 12 to be delivered over and over similar to a clothes dryer.This allows for continuous heat transfer to the tires and control of thesurface temperature of the tires. In an embodiment of the process,rotating the tires up the side wall of the chamber 12 allows the tiresto be evenly roasted, in particular the surface of the tires. Further,by controlling the temperature in the chamber 12 from about 500 to about1000 degrees F. the carbon black in the tires is released without totaldeterioration. The carbon black reclaimed from tires maintains itstensile strength, yield and necessary properties to be re-used in themanufacture of tires, making this process unique.

The inside surface of the chamber 12 with ribs 19 that lift and rotatethe tires with a taper have at least two unique advantages. In additionto lifting and rotating the tires and controlling the temperature of thetires, the steel wire in the tires to acts as a grinding or impactingtool to reduce the size of the tires, in particular their carbonproducts, to a fine grain powder. As the tires loose their shape andcome apart the ribs and/or tapered wall of the chamber 12 move thematerial to one end of the chamber. Further, the now released bead wireof the tires and the ribs of the chamber reduce the size of the carbonblack and clean the steel wire of all remaining hydrocarbon materialsfrom the steel.

In one embodiment, the circular wall 16 of chamber 12, as mentionedabove, is tapered such that its diameter narrows in the direction of thechamber outlet 20. Such a taper can assist in pushing the tires from thefeed end 14 of the chamber 12 towards the outlet 20, as the chamber isrotated and as the tires are processed, to enhance the grinding of thetire carbon material into a fine powder.

In another embodiment, the ribs in the chamber 12 can also be tapered topush the material in the chamber towards the outlet 20 and for bettergrinding. In another embodiment, the present method can involve changingthe direction of rotation of the chamber to the opposite direction toassist in grinding the tire material such that, for example, chamber 12is rotated first in one direction and subsequently in the oppositedirection to process the tires.

In one embodiment, the conversion process carried out in chamber 12 is abatch process in which one or more tires are placed in the chamber andprocessed. Tire carbon, for example carbon black, in the form of a finepowder is removed by the unloading auger 22 at the chamber outlet 20into conduit 24, ultimately falling into collection chamber 28. At theend of the process only the steel beads, and in the case of radialtires, the cord wire, are left in the vessel or chamber 12. This metalcan be subsequently removed and sold as scrap metal.

In the case of processing tires, the vapor exiting chamber 12 caninclude vapor in the form of vaporized oil and benzene and syngas, whichvapor is delivered by conduit 24 to vapor chamber 40 where the vapor istemporarily held and begins to cool. Also vapor exiting chamber 12 canbe re-pressurized and returned to the heater(s) 15 for heating chamber12 without subjecting the gases to a cooling step or process. The vaporexits vapor chamber 40 by way of conduit 42 and is delivered to the oneor more condensing chambers 44. In one embodiment, the condensingchambers can be water cooled to assist in the condensation of the vaporinto a liquid, in particular oil. The oil that collects at the base ofthe one or more condensing chambers 44 can be removed by way of thecondensing chamber outlet 46 and delivered to one or more collectiontanks (not shown).

Remaining vapor is delivered from the one or more condensing chambers 44by way of conduit 50 to one or more gas scrubbers where impurities canbe removed. The cleaned vapor can then be delivered by way of conduit 54to the compressor 56. In one embodiment, compressor 56 can re-pressurizethe remaining vapor up to about 40 psi, allowing conventional burners touse the vapor or gas for heating the chamber 12. The syngas in holdingtank 64 can be sold. Some of the oil from holding tank 64, however, maybe returned back to the one or more heaters 15, and to the burners inthe heaters, to assist in heating chamber 12. The use of syngas fromholding tank 64 for heaters 15 can reduce the need for an outside fuelsource for heating chamber 12 by as much as 85%.

The system and process of the present disclosure can, therefore, notonly recover the tire black, for example in the form of carbon black,from tires, but also recover the steel in the tires for salvage as wellas recovering the organics in the tires in the form of, for example, No.2 to No. 6 fuel oil that can be used refining into petroleum products.

The present disclosure is not limited to processing tires. For example,any solid carbon based material such as shoes, plastic, rubber belting,and rubber construction tracks of any size can be processed by thepresent system and method.

It should also be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of thepresent disclosure are merely possible examples of implementations setforth for a clear understanding of the principles of the presentdisclosure. Many variations and modifications may be made to theabove-described embodiments without departing substantially from thespirit and principles of the disclosure. All such modifications andvariations are intended to be included herein within the scope of thisdisclosure and protected by the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of converting a tire comprisingthe steps of: providing a rotatable chamber in which the tire can beheated; introducing the tire into the chamber; indirectly heating thechamber to a temperature between about 500° F. and about 1000° F. toreduce the tire, converting the tire into low temperature gases or oilor both and into residual solids; rotating the heated chamber with thetire in the chamber; collecting the low temperature gases or oil or bothfrom the chamber; and collecting the residual solids from the tire fromthe chamber, the residual solids including carbon solids and metal fromthe tire.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the chamber has an interiorsurface and the interior surface is provided with a rib system to rotatethe material in the chamber and cause a tumbling of the material in thechamber.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the rib system includes ribsoriented on the inside surface of the chamber to aid in moving thematerial from an end of the chamber to an opposite end of the chamberhaving an outlet for collecting the low temperature gases and theresidual solids.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the opposite end ofthe chamber having the outlet also includes a rib system that projectsinwardly from the interior surface of the opposite end and are orientedin a manner to assist in delivering the residual solids to the outlet ofthe chamber.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein the rib system includesone or more ribs projecting inwardly from the interior surface of thechamber and are positioned along the interior surface in a helicalmanner.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the material includes a solidwhole tire introduced into the chamber without pretreatment of the tire.7. The method of claim 6, wherein the collected low temperature gasesinclude one or more of methane, benzene or syngas.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the collected low temperature gases include one or moreof methane, benzene or syngas.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein theheating and rotating of the tire in the chamber causes the tire tocollapse and liquefy giving off the low temperature gases.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, wherein, as the tire liquefies, the steel in the tirebecomes exposed and aids in breaking down the tire and grinding carbonfrom the tire into a powder as the tire is tumbled inside the chamber.11. The method of claim 9, wherein at least a portion of the lowtemperature gases are collected and used to heat the chamber.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the low temperature gases provide up to 85%of the energy needed to heat the chamber and convert the tire.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the carbon solids include carbon black thatretains its tensile strength.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein thechamber is tapered having a larger diameter at an end of the chamberthan at an opposite end to the chamber having an outlet for collectingthe low temperature gases and the residual solids.
 15. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the heating of the tire in the chamber is conducted atleast in part under vacuum.